COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONAlthough we enjoyed aging Batch #1 in used La Folie barrels from New Belgium Brewery, one of which was the renowned PH1 barrel, Batch #2 is something completely different. After a trip to Belgium in 2006, Vinnie successfully tried his hand at spontaneous fermentation using traditional, and not so traditional, Lambic methods. Out of respect for our Belgian brewing friends, we call this style “Sonambic”, a portmanteau between Sonoma and Lambic.

We stole this term from our friend Brian Hunt at Moonlight, our local farmhouse brewery. In 2007, we executed a second spontaneous fermentation, making yet another batch of Sonambic. This year, we blended those two batches to create our second bottling of Beatification which we are very excited about! Batch #2 has a big grapefruit aroma and grapefruit rind flavor with funky Brettanomyces and a tart finish.

Two bottles, sampled side-by-side with OldMrCrow the other night. First, the freshest bottle (2013 batch), thanks to bytemesis for this one. Pours sparkling clear light gold with tons of small bubbles clinging to the side of the glass. Aroma brings oak, vinegar, leather, and tons of white wine. Taste is holy wow bracingly tart. Sweet tarts, puckering, almost difficult to drink it’s so tart. Gonna have to take this slow. Lots of grape. Some apple cider. Medium body, slick coating texture, lively carbonation. Overall: This is surprisingly unimpressive (I mean, still quite good, but not 100th percentile good). Over the top sweet tart. Different than the older one by quite a bit, and almost not in the same class. Is this age, or batch variation, or something else entirely? 8/4/7/4/15. (3.8)

Older bottle (batch 2, thanks Carl!): Murky cloudy pour, darker gold, no head, minimal carbonation. Lovely complex gueuze-like nose -- cob webs, rubber, musty basement, cheese, funk - there’s maybe a little oak left, but not much, and also the grapes/wine have receded to nothingness. Taste brings some light sweetness with a really nice funky, fruity tartness. Less residual sugar in this dude, and everything just gels better. Could totally mistake this for one of the Belgians. Medium body, soft carbonation, slick coating texture. Overall: This is lovely. Were texture/appearance a little nicer, this would be 4.3+. 9/3/9/3/17.

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